Teammates remember East hockey player killed in crash

WAUSAU - Dan Bauer spent a few days earlier this week looking back at programs and statistics from the Wausau East boys' hockey team's 2011-12 campaign. His main interest was the accomplishments of defenseman Logan Brummond that season.

"When you coach a long time, (the numbers) all kind of run together sometimes," said Bauer, who coached the Lumberjacks for 11 years before stepping down in 2013 and now is an assistant coach with the Central Wisconsin Storm girls' hockey team.

Brummond finished with three assists in 25 games that season as a senior. His contributions to the Lumberjacks that year are better measured by an unofficial statistic, however.

"I looked it up the other day. He had seven 'lunch boxes' that year from his teammates, (an award) which we gave out at the end of games for the player who was kind of the unsung hero of the game," Bauer said.

Brummond, 22, was killed Sunday night when he was hit by a semi-truck after getting out of a pickup truck parked on the side of Interstate 39. Funeral services were held Friday in which a number of his former East teammates gathered to pay respect to one of their "brothers." Former and current members of the East program sported their hockey sweaters, as did members of the Wausau West program.

Man hit by semi was from Wausau, age 22

"Hockey is really a great sport just for that bonding," said Ben Matsche, who was paired with Brummond on East's defensive corps. "Starting with youth hockey and all the traveling you do (in the sport), you do end up forming these pretty strong bonds with kids you grow up with. That never really changes even with people going away to college. Every time you get together it's like you are just picking up where you left off.

"Probably the biggest thing I'm going to miss is that he always had a smile on his face. He had a way of making things so light-hearted and so happy," Matsche said. "You can tell how many people Logan touched with his life just by the volume of comments on Facebook and the sheer number of people who were just touched by him."

The current Lumberjacks team dedicated Tuesday's 5-3 win at Marshfield to Brummond. Lumberjacks senior Gabe McGinnity, whose brother Jack was a member of the 2012 East team, tweeted after the game:

Brummond was in the midst of his first year with the Mosinee Papermakers men's amateur hockey team. The Papermakers dedicated Friday's game to him and the team will hang his No. 10 jersey on the bench the remainder of the season.

Papermakers third-year goalie Anthony Lashua has been friends with Brummond since fifth grade, and the two also were teammates with the Lumberjacks. Lashua said that while Brummond was a gritty hockey player who specialized in blocking shots, off the ice he was "always laughing. No matter what we were doing he was always laughing and smiling. He was always joking around and was a very funny guy."

Brummond had sporadic varsity ice time his first three seasons with the Lumberjacks, but shined when he got his chance as a senior.

Bauer said Brummond wasn't the most skilled player for East, but demonstrated heart in his career.

"He was a kid who stuck it out when some other kids might have thought they weren't getting a fair shake and maybe stepped away (from the sport). His passion for the game grew every year and when it was his turn to play, he had a really solid year for us," Bauer said. "He maybe played even beyond the expectations I had for him at that point. I think if you learn how to work hard at something and learn how to persevere, I think those are two of the greatest lessons that you can take away from athletics. He definitely got both of those and was the poster child for both.

"I've always had a special place for players like that because that is kind of who I was when I played," Bauer said. "I was always pretty small and pretty challenged. I had to work hard to get where I wanted to be."

Jack McGinnity said Brummond's passion for hockey was demonstrated in the final game of his high school career -- a loss in the WIAA regionals.

"We were playing up at Northland Pines, and he didn't take off his equipment until he got back home to Wausau," McGinnity said. "He rode the bus home like that just because of how dedicated he was to the team and how much he loved the sport and didn't want to take off his equipment."

Tim Johnson can be reached at 715-845-0731 or at timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com. Find him on Twitter @timmyjo11.